Wycombe Sound wins CRA Station of the Year

The second annual Community Radio Awards were held on Saturday evening with Wycombe Sound 106.6 FM named Station of The Year 2017.

The award was announced by CRA Chair Martin Steers following the 2017 Community Media Conference, which was hosted by last year’s winner, Ujima FM.

Gold awards in the 17 categories included Radio Wanno from HMP Wandsworth named best podcast; Rachel Price of Forces Radio BFBS Northern Ireland named Young Person of the Year (under 25); and Spark FM’s Building an Audience using Facebook Live was Innovation of the year.

A panel of over 50 judges drawn from the BBC, Commercial Radio, Community Radio & Media and Academia selected the best programmes and stations from more than 350 entries from 70 community radio stations.

Community Radio Award chair, Martin Steers, said: “We can’t believe how much these new awards have caught the imagination of the movement of volunteers who are producing fantastic and engaging radio for their communities. What we were really excited by is the increasing energy of their output. It can be a long old haul keeping output going over the long term on very minimal funds, so we’re pleased to see that the sector is not only surviving but thriving, and is increasingly the answer to bringing communities together and serving those who are being left behind by the traditional and mainstream media.”

Community Development Project of the Year
Gold: Mackem Craic – Spark FM
Silver: A Present from the Past – Phoenix FM
Bronze: Radio Sheung Lok – All FM

Live Event or Outside Broadcast of the Year
Gold: Tour de Yorkshire – Drystone Radio
Silver: Failsworth Carnival – Oldham Community Radio 99.7 FM
Bronze: Les James Challenge Cup Final 2017 – 107.5 Switch Radio

Entertainment Show of the Year
Gold: The Kieran Poole Sessions – Miskin Radio
Silver: The Week in Geek – Spark FM
Bronze: Drivetime with Ryan and Beth – Spark FM

Speech and Journalism of the Year
Gold: Rough Sleep – Tameside Radio
Silver: The Late Show with Joe Shennan – Wycombe Sound 106.6 FM
Bronze: Newsburst – Sheppey 92.2 FM

Arts and Creative Radio of the Year
Gold: Folkestone Life, A Sound Art Project – Academy FM Folkestone
Silver: Lincoln Voices – Lincoln City Radio
Bronze: The Second Coming – Warminster Community Radio